Wednesday, 11 November 2009

Hopton Street - SE1

One of the (many) things I love about London is the contrast you encounter on a daily basis and I was reminded of this wandering down Hopton Street in SE1 on the weekend. Hopton St is a really small street that runs from the Tate Modern to Southwark Street - not somewhere you would normally walk unless, like me, you were diverted from the Thames Path (they were doing work on Blackfriars Bridge I think). I love finding new streets and Hopton St took my fancy for some reason - I think it was mainly because of the weird mix of utilitarian modern architecture, imposing Victorian warehouses and this little house which I just loved. Not sure how old this is and if it is now part of the Purdy Hicks Gallery in the warehouse next door, but the way it was dwarfed by the buildings around it made me imagine it was the last remaining cottage in the street, holding out against development. A bit like the old guy's house in the new Pixar movie "Up". Maybe it was the manager's house for the warehouse, but it kinda looks older. I hesitate to even go there because my architectural knowledge is super sketchy, but it looks a little bit "Queen Anne" in style to me? I can just hear the howls of protest from those who know better but thought I'd put that one out there. Anyway, whatever - next time you're at the Tate Modern, take a stroll down Hopton Street and let me know what you think.

I used to live in Hopton St, but most of what I remember has now been knocked down, as a kid I remember them lighting the street lights at dusk (gas lights) my "Old Man" had a Café on the corner of the street... now no longer there, 3 floors hight, I had the top floor... because no one wanted to walk that far up to go to bed, but what a view I have of the Thames and St Paul's

Thank you so much for writing of your memories of Hopton St - I envy you growing up there, you must have felt like you were right in the centre of things! Such a pity the street had to change, although you still get a sense of what it was like I think.

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Raison d'etre

An expat Aussie 15 years into a love affair with London, I decided to record some of the reasons I dig this city, with a key theme being the search for good coffee & food. Random musings with hopefully some appeal or use - if not, at least I'm having fun writing them! Enjoy.